1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with improved, corn protein-fortified meat products of the ground or comminuted variety such as sausages, knowkwursts, or frankfurters. More particularly, it is concerned with products of this character which are suplemented with emulsions comprising corn-derived protein, particulate fat, and water, to form a stable fat and water emulsion with the protein at least partially enrobing and stabilizing the fat to prevent coalescence thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been suggested in the past to supplement and fortify traditional meat products with plant-derived protein. Such additive materials not only add bulk to the product, but actually enhance the nutritional product properties of the meat because of the use of relatively high protein, low fat plant protein additives. For example, soy protein in the form of processed or plain defatted soy flour has been used for a number of years in meat and other products. However, in recent times the use of soy has been declining, principally because of the characteristic and unpleasant off-flavor of final products supplemented with soy.
In addition to soy protein, it has also been suggested in the past to make use of various milk-derived protein such as sodium caseinate or non-fat dry milk powder. While these materials are excellent sources of protein, they are objectionable principally from the standpoint of cost. Also, other materials such as sesame and wheat flour have been proposed in the past as supplements to meats and other foods. However, these products have not achieved widespread commercial utilization.
Defatted corn germ flour is a byproduct of the corn oil industry, and has been utilized as an ingredient in animal feeds. This product has not been employed on a widespread basis in human foods because of product deterioration occurring by virtue of residual lipids in the flour which oxidize and may contribute to off flavors. U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,207 describes a process designed to provide a high protein food grade defatted corn germ protein flour, making use of an extraction technique employing carbon dioxide under supercritical conditions. Products resulting from this process contain approximately 19% protein, 32% starch and only trace amounts of lipids (all on a moisture-free basis). The process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,207 gives promise of commercial availability of defatted corn germ protein flour at a reasonable cost, while avoiding the rancidity problems heretofore associated with this product.
Prior suggestions regarding the use of defatted corn germ flour have been limited to use thereof on a simple incorporation basis, i.e., addition of various levels of the flour to otherwise conventional foods such as cookies, muffins and beef patties. While such a procedure does provide advantages, it would also be desirable to actually enhance organoleptic and other product properties through the use of corn-derived protein. In the case of meat products for example, properties such as water holding capacity (which relates to the "juiciness" of the product), yield and lessened cooking losses due to fat separation are very important to processors and consumers. Hence, while protein fortification is in and of itself a desirable goal, if this could be achieved along with other product improvements of the type described, it would represent a truly significant breakthrough in the art.